Posts Tagged ‘New England Patriots’

Wednesday, February 18th, 2015

If there was one thing to take away from Buffalo Bills coach Rex Ryan’s time addressing the media at the 2015 NFL Scouting Combine on Wednesday, it was that he’s seemingly quite excited for the start of baseball season. After filibustering about the game on the diamond to start his press conference, Rex Ryan continued to make baseball references—largely in regards to questions about players who are currently members of other NFL teams—throughout his 15 minutes at the podium.

“My first year [as head coach of the New York Jets] I would have done this and I would have swung at that pitch,” Ryan said while lining up to imitate a baseball stance, “and probably been fined for tampering or something like that,” in response to a question about New England Patriots and former Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis, who could potentially become a free agent this offseason if released by New England. “There’s no way I’m going to talk about somebody else’s player, so I refuse to do that.”

Ryan also made references about not swinging at pitches again when he was asked about New York Jets running back and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Mark Sanchez, another former Jet.

Sunday, December 28th, 2014

The Buffalo Bills ended some long, unwanted droughts at Gillette Stadium on Sunday. With a 17-9 win over the New England Patriots, the Bills secured their first winning season since 2004, finishing the year at 9-7, while they also won for the first time on the road in Foxborough, Mass. since 2000, despite playing one game against the Patriots there every year since.

Even so, the Bills and their fans won’t be telling their kids about the time they beat the Patriots in New England in 2014. The outcome of Sunday’s game had no impact on the streak the Bills really wanted to end in 2014—Buffalo’s season is over prior to the playoffs again for a 15th consecutive year—and it came on a day that the Patriots played like they had nothing to play for, having already clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC before Week 17 even began.

Sunday, December 28th, 2014

Moving the ball well offensively and shutting down another of the NFL’s top offenses, the Buffalo Bills have a 17-6 halftime lead Sunday against the New England Patriots, looking for their first win in Foxborough, Mass. and their third win overall against the Patriots since 2000.

Kyle Orton has looked as good as he ever has since the team’s midseason bye, as he completed 11 of 15 passing attempts for 143 yards and a touchdown in the first half. The Bills have also had success running the football, with 65 rushing yards on 16 attempts, and have reached the end zone on both of their red zone trips today.

Defensively, the Bills have held the Patriots to just 121 yards of total offense and no touchdowns, as Tom Brady has completed just eight of 16 passing attempts for 80 yards.

The reality of this game, however, is that the Patriots essentially have nothing to play for, and it’s showed in their effort on the field.

Sunday, December 28th, 2014

Much to the chagrin of Buffalo Bills fans and the delight of New England Patriots fans, Sunday’s regular-season finale between the two teams is essentially meaningless. The Bills, at 8-7, have been eliminated from the playoffs for a 15th consecutive year; the Patriots, at 12-3, have already clinched the AFC’s No. 1 postseason seed.

Still, there will be pride on the line in Sunday’s game, especially for the Buffalo Bills, who haven’t beat the New England Patriots in Gillette Stadium since 2000 and have lost 26 of their 28 games against the Patriots since. Additionally, a victory Sunday could secure the Bills’ first winning record since 2004, another year they went 9-7.

With that in mind, there’s still reason for Bills fans to watch Sunday’s season finale, and there’s still reason for the Bills to play as hard as they can to secure a win—but it’s also undeniable that everyone involved with the Bills should have one eye toward the offseason at this point. As much as the Bills will play for a W on Sunday, it will also be a final chance for both players and coaches to prove their worth to the Bills and/or to the league as a whole heading into 2015.

Here’s some of the dynamics that will be worth keeping an eye on Sunday.

Defense has been the name of the game for the Buffalo Bills in 2014. Nothing changed much in a 26-10 comeback win over the Cleveland Browns on the final Sunday in November. The Bills kept their dream of making the playoffs alive and forced their opponent to bench a starting quarterback for the second consecutive week—a trend that probably won’t continue next week in Denver. Once again Kyle Orton reverted to the Mr. Hyde version of himself, but was bailed out by arguably the Bills’ strongest defensive performance of the season.

It’s hard not to be excited following a Week 13 win with some relevance. The fact that it’s been 12 years since Buffalo has been 7-5 after 12 games is both exhilarating and nauseating. A league built upon the foundation of parity has not extended its gift of occasional good fortune to snowy Western New York for quite some time and getting caught up in the hoopla is to be expected.

I also would not fault anyone for being sourly pessimistic about the Bills’ playoff hopes, despite a mark many fans should be happy with to this point. After all this is the Buffalo Bills, a team who has not made the postseason since 1999, we are talking about.

For two big reasons, 2014 is unlikely to be the year the Bills finally break the Curse of Doug Flutie.